


Not Alone

by GreyHaven



Category: Grey's Anatomy
Genre: F/M, Family, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-02
Updated: 2017-04-02
Packaged: 2018-10-14 01:43:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,494
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10526277
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GreyHaven/pseuds/GreyHaven
Summary: Meredith realises she can't do everything on her own, Alex is there for her.Possible spoilers up to Season 13 Episode 16.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Written for my lovely friend, my twisted sister, who ships these two even more than I do :)

Alex took a deep breath before opening the door.  It had been an awful day.  Everyone was still on edge about the Minnick/Webber situation.  He’d spent hours treating the boy from the road accident.  He thought he would live but it had been touch and go.  He just wanted to lie down and go to sleep.  Maybe with some alcohol to help him forget.

As he opened the door, he realised that the quiet evening he’d been hoping for was a no-hoper.  Meredith appeared to be burning something in the oven, the kids seemed to be on a sugar high, and there was chaos everywhere.

Dashing to the kitchen, he switched off the oven and retrieved the remains of a pot roast.  Swearing under his breath as he burnt his wrist, he threw the oven glove onto the counter.  “Mer?”  He called.

“Yes?”  She popped up from behind the couch.

“What were you doing down there?”  He hadn’t realised she was even home, thought that maybe Amelia had been in charge of the children.

Meredith stood.  “Don’t ask.  It’s been a  _ long _ day.”

Surveying the messy room, Alex nodded.  “Where is everyone?”

“Maggie’s still at work, some big surgery to do.  Amelia and Owen are on a date.”  Meredith had been surprised when Amelia told her she was going out, she’d thought Owen and Amelia were a lost cause.  Still, it was good and she hoped they would work through things.

“Should I order pizza?”  Alex’s tummy rumbled, reminding him how hungry he was.  When had he last eaten?  Sometime this morning, he thought.

“No, I  _ cooked _ ,” Meredith replied, slightly put out that he hadn’t noticed.

Alex smirked slightly.  “This?”  He gestured at the ruined pot roast.

Meredith’s face fell.  “Oh.  That.  I don’t suppose we can rescue it?”  It had been going fine until Zola had a meltdown about missing her favourite hair grip and Meredith had had to go searching for it.  She still hadn’t found it.

Alex chipped at the charred remains of dinner with a knife.  “No, I think it’s past being rescued.”  There was a slight chuckle in his voice.  “Hawaiian pizza?”

Meredith stared at him as though he’d gone mad.  “Pineapple?  On pizza?  No.”

“What’s wrong with pineapple on pizza?”

“What’s  _ right _ with pineapple on pizza.  It’s weird and wrong.  Just no.  Ham, mushrooms, olives.”  

Pulling out his phone, Alex dialled.

***

After they’d eaten, Meredith put the children to bed while Alex cleaned up the dinner disaster from earlier.  Alex quickly sent a text to Arizona who was spending the night at the hospital in case things went south with the boy from this morning, checking on his patient, wondering if he should go back to the hospital, just in case.  His phone pinged back straight away.  Arizona was confirming all was good and the boy seemed to be improving.

Relaxing slightly, feeling the stresses of the day slowly receding, Alex poured 2 glasses of wine and joined Meredith on the sofa.  

Meredith took the glass Alex handed her, sinking back into the sofa.  Sometimes she thought she just wasn’t cut out to be a mother, she hadn’t exactly had the greatest role model in that respect.  It had been ok when Derek was still alive, he stopped her from freaking out too much.  Maggie and Amelia were wonderful aunties but she was still alone in this.  Parenting.

The baby monitor squawked to life.  That sounded like Ellis.  Meredith sighed, moving to stand up to go and see to her.

“I’ll go.”  Alex said quietly.  He’d noticed the tension in Meredith’s face, the dark circles under her eyes.  Not sleeping, he thought.  There wasn’t much he could do, but looking after crying children was one thing he  _ could _ do.  And Ellis liked him, she’d settle down quickly.

Meredith sat back, cradling her glass of wine, appreciative that Alex was helping.  Maybe she wasn’t so alone.  She smiled slightly, hearing Alex’s voice over the monitor, listening to his baby talk.  The cries turned to giggles, then Ellis was quiet.

Alex smiled to himself, closed the door as quietly as he could and headed back downstairs.  

“She was just fussy,” he told Meredith as she handed him back his glass of wine.  “Went down straight away.”

“I heard,” Meredith replied, nodding her head towards the monitor.  “Thank you, Alex.”

Turning towards her, Alex asked “Are you ok, Mer?”

Meredith blinked in surprise, Alex was one of her best friends but he didn’t usually  _ check in _ like that.  “Me?  I’m fine.  Are you?”  She fiddled with her glass.

Alex drained his, refilling it and topping up Meredith’s.  “Tough day, no worse than usual.  You’re not sleeping.”  It wasn’t a question.

“I’m a surgeon.  We don’t sleep.  You know that.”  There was an edge to her voice and she stared at him, challenging him to argue with her.

Alex stared back defiantly, he had never been the sort of person to back down.  “Everyone needs to sleep.  What’s going on?”

Meredith briefly considering denying there was anything wrong but she was just too damn tired.  Her face falling slightly, she dropped her gaze.  “I’m turning into my mother.  Putting work first.  I can’t do everything, can’t  _ be _ everything I want to be.”  She practically spat the words out.  “I  _ hate _ Derek for leaving me to do this on my own.  I miss Christina.  She was my  _ person _ .”  Once she started, she couldn’t stop.  “And I don’t want to sound  _ ungrateful _ , I have the best friends, the best sisters, but sometimes it feels as though it’s just me against the world and it seems impossible.”  She gulped her wine down, holding out her glass in an unspoken demand for it to be refilled.

Alex poured again.  “You’re not turning into your mother.  You love those kids too much for that, and they love you.”  He reached out, placing a hand on Meredith’s shoulder, wanting to offer some small comfort, not really knowing what to say.  Words had never really been his  _ thing _ .  “You’re not alone, Mer.”

Meredith twisted to face him, meeting his eyes.  “But I  _ am _ !  It’s not about practical help, you guys are all great at that.  It’s about moral support, sharing the decision making,  _ parents evenings _ .   _ That’s _ what I’m alone with.”

Alex looked back at her, wishing he could find the right words.  Everything he’d been looking for was  _ here _ , right under his nose.  A partner, a family, that deep connection that he’d searched for in so many different beds over the years.  He wouldn’t say that though, he couldn’t take another rejection so soon after Jo.  “You’re not alone.  I can be your person.  I’m not Christina, but you tell me what you need and I’m there.”  He could be her friend.

Meredith felt her eyes burning.  Blinking hard, she refused to let the tears fall.  Was it that simple?  Alex had been there through  _ everything _ .  He understood her, in the same way only Christina had before.  He’d never let her down, had always been by her side.  Had it been staring her in the face all along?  People always said the best relationships came from being friends first.  

“Mer?”  Alex spoke quietly.  “I just want you to know...you’re my person.  You’re the only one who’s ever really cared, who looked for what was beneath the mask I put on.”  He looked away then, scared he’d said too much, revealed too much of himself.

Ok, now she  _ definitely _ needed to say something.  Anything.  Otherwise this was going to turn awkward.  Swallowing the last of her wine and wishing it was tequila, Meredith threw caution out of the window.  She’d never know if she didn’t  _ try _ .  It was Alex.  If it went wrong, they would  _ fix _ it.  “Alex,” her voice was soft but demanding.  “Look at me.”

He steeled himself, ready to be told that Meredith couldn’t  _ be _ his person, that she didn’t really care.  He looked at her, surprised to find her smiling back at him. 

Meredith leaned closer into him, reaching up to gently curl one hand round the back of his neck, pulling him towards her.  Stunned, Alex went with it, his own hand reaching out to cup Meredith’s chin and lift her face towards his.  Was this really happening?  

Their lips met, soft skin against soft skin, tasting the wine on each others mouths, and it felt  _ familiar _ and  _ right _ and like  _ home _ .  Alex’s hand tangled in Meredith’s hair as her arm wrapped around his waist, wanting him closer, wishing they hadn’t wasted so much time.  As the kiss deepened, the baby monitor squawked again.

Groaning slightly but smiling, Alex got up.  “I’ll go.”

“No, it’s my turn, I’ll go.”  If, and it was a  _ big _ if, they were doing this then Meredith wanted it to be  _ equal _ .

“I’m up.  You go and get another bottle of wine out.”  Alex told her, already making his way to the stairs.

“Ok,” Meredith smiled.  “Hurry back.”


End file.
